Softest Blue
by TheLithiumProject
Summary: Sanji is a freshman in college in a world where no one sees color until they meet their soul mate. He wants nothing more than find than to find his soul mate and be accepted to the prestigious culinary academy, All Blue. On move-in day, as his dorm mates are gathered in the hallway, colors suddenly flood his vision. The problem is, his soul mate seems to be avoiding him...
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone! Welcome to my SanjiXOC fanfiction. If any of you read my other fanfiction, you will recognize Lithium here again. This is a Modern/College/Soulmate AU. Soul mates cannot see color except very grayed out tones until they find each other. It's like a game of hot and cold as the colors will fade in and out based on proximity._

 _Also those who have Devil fruit powers or look different are called "supernaturals" in this world and have some other designation to describe what sort you are. For example, Chopper is an Anthro Supernatural, while Brook is a Visual Supernatural. Robin, since she looks normal until she uses her power, is simply called Supernatural._

 _Anyway, enough chat, on with the story!_

* * *

It had taken Sanji and Usopp far too long to loft both their beds in their new dorm room, though by the sounds of it, their across-the-hall neighbors were having a harder time of it. If he did not know better due to having met both eariler, he would swear one of them was named "Dammit Luffy".

Sanji stretched after setting up the ladder on Usopp's bunk. He could vault into the bed on his own so it was no trouble for him giving the shorter man the ladder. It was also incentive not to join in on any underage drinking parties. He was not particularly inclined to do so, but the threat of falling out of bed, or being unable to get into it was a good deterrent.

Usopp chuckled while putting up a few posters as the yelling continue to float through their open door.

"Hey this is really difficult. It's making' me hungry!"

"You're no doing anything!"

Sanji stuck his head out the door, watching a green-haired man he knew was Zoro, setting up a bunk by himself, a lanky dark haired guy hanging off it like a monkey, doing absolutely nothing to help his roommate. He shook his head at this and retreated back into his room to finish unpacking.

He had not brought much with him, since he was within a twenty minute drive from home. It was mostly his cookbooks and equipment he would need for culinary classes, aside from the living essentials. He snorted at little at his roommate already decorating his half of the room before his clothes were even put away. Then again, he expected nothing less from the graphic design major.

He and Usopp had met shortly after they received their room assignment and had been regularly hanging out since. That eased the transition for the anxious artist and when came down to it, Sanji was calmer for it as well. Not that nervousness was ever a big issue for him, but knowing he was this much closer to his two greatest goals in life did leave him in a more gittery state than normal.

He set a thick pamphlet on his desk, out of the way but visible. The swirling blue logo emblazoned on it read All Blue Culinary Academy, the most prestigious culinary school the world over, his first and foremost goal. He knew the pamphlet was a brilliant blue, but only because his adoptive father, Zeff, told him it was when the list of requirements had come in the mail.

The world was still washed out grays with the barest hint of color for him. He had yet to find his soulmate. Only the All Blue could trump his desire to find this person, though he knew the academy could never take away the constant dull ache he carried with him as another testament to who was missing.

He glanced over at Usopp setting up a framed picture of him and his lovely soulmate Kaya. Usopp had been one of the lucky ones. He had met Kaya when they were both young and it saved her life. She was ill to begin with and had the worst kind of soulmate pain, constant chronic pain. The combination was killing her. The first time Kaya could even sit up on her own without pain was the day Usopp finally made it past the security guards of her rich home and climbed the tree outside her window.

If he could find his soulmate in even a tenth a romantic way as that, Sanji would be satisfied.

He heaved a sigh as he began to hang up his clothes. There was a great deal of black in his wardrobe, mainly because his limited color sight made coordinating colors difficult. Zeff, a brilliant chef, could plate anything to perfection, yet when it came to colors of anything but food, he was hopeless, despite possessing full color sight. There were a few fashion nightmares in his past that shaped his choice of attire at the present.

He did own a few blue shirts though, as one of the other sou chefs at Baratie, Zeff's restaurant, had been better with color and was kind enough to tell him the color brought out the blue in his eyes. A little smile pulled at his lips at the memory of that particular sou chef. She was a lovely woman, but she moved on to her own restaurant after about a year.

As he hung up his small collection of blue shirts he heard the voice of the RA, Brook, going down the hall. He was a lively older man, though all that was left of him was a skeleton. He was a supernatural of a pretty drastic kind, but he was also well-adjusted to life, unlike so many of like him. The discrimination against those different than human was appalling, but the state was improving every year. Sanji did not doubt the cheerful musician had plenty of stories to tell about darker times.

Brook was chatting with someone, who was replying so softly, he could barely hear them. Sanji decided not to eaves-drop this time, when he heard Brook call the person "my dear". There were ladies in the dorm and far be it from him to be rude to one. Several other voices, some male, some female joined in with Brook's and the soft whispers of the first woman. Sanji smiled and went back to hanging up his shirts.

He dropped the shirt he was about to hang, taking a startled step backward. The fabric was a rich royal blue against the weird multicolored dorm carpet. He picked it up with shaking hands, swearing under his breath, turning it over and over in his hands.

"Sanji, you okay, man?"

Sanji turned to his roommate, suddenly struck by the rich brown tone of his skin and eyes. "Yeah...I...I can see color..."

It took Usopp a moment to register what this meant but when it did, a huge grin spread across his face. "They're here! Go find 'em!"

Sanji started for the door, but turned back to throw the shirt up on the bed. As he did, the colors started fade away again. He practically ran for the door, just in time to see one of the remaining three doors shut and the lock bolt shut. He started down the hall but nearly ran into the large man with blue-dyed hair as he leaped across the hall, grabbing the hands of an elegant dark haired woman.

He stood at the door, watching as his new dorm mates, Franky and Robin, discovered they were soul mates, congratulating them despite the heavy feeling of knowing his soul mate was in the building, but may have just locked themselves in their room.

 _Surely they saw it too...maybe it wasn't them..._

Before he could think about it anymore, Brook reminded them that the required assembly was in ten minutes. Sanji sighed, walking back into his room to change out of his sweaty teeshirt and into the blue shirt he left on his bed. Hopefully he would find his soul mate on the way there and they would appreciate the color when they finally met. They were bound to come out eventually, since the assembly was mandatory.

 _If it's you behind the door, won't you come out? I've been waiting for you..._

* * *

Though it was still warm this early in September, Lithium kept her hood tight around her head as she carried her boxes toward the dorm building. She did not have much, but the RA still offered to help her. She accepted help from the skeleton supernatural so her so her former neighbor could get back home. She had been kind enough to take Lithium to campus, but she did not have all day to spend waiting for her to unpack.

"Welcome to the dorm, my dear. You must be Lithium. Everyone else has signed in already." Brook made an expression she assumed was a smile. His expressions were a little harder to read with just the skull to go by, even it if was more flexible than she assumed a human's was.

"Yeah, I'm am." She spoke softly, adjusting the bag on her shoulder. "You must be Brook, the RA, right?"

"That's me!" Brook lifted a few of her boxes, while she picked up the rest and waved to her neighbor.

"It's nice to meet you, Brook." She smiled from inside her hood. "I'm glad to see someone similar to myself is in charge of the dorm. I feel a bit safer."

"Oh, are you a supernatural, dear?" Brook opened the main door for her and she slipped easily under his arm. He was incredibly tall compared to her five foot frame. Most people were tall compared to that, but the skeleton more than exceeded the norm. "What kind?"

She sighed a little, but knowing he was a supernatural made it easier to admit it. "I'm an reverse anthro. Full-body."

Brook had to duck down to enter, but it was clear he was used to based on the ease with which he did it. "Well well, that's a tough one to live with, I'm sure. But you are safe here. I don't tolerate discrimination and harassment here."

They passed the first set of dorm doors as they followed several others down the hall toward her room. She stopped in her tracks, nearly dropping her boxes as her surroundings shifted into rich, deep colors. Her heart hammered in her chest, despite the sudden alleviation of the pain that had been her constant companion. She pushed pas the people in front of her and powered to her room, closing the door and locking it as soon as Brook set her things in the room.

 _No...no...they can't be here...this can't be happening...I knew this could happen..._

Brook called through the closed door. "There will be a mandatory assembly in fifteen minutes, my dear, for all freshman students. It's in the main auditorium. Don't miss it!"

Lithium sat the floor of her room in a corner, pulling her knees to her chest. _Why now? Why did I even think living on campus was a good idea?...I could have found some other place when the manager said I couldn't renew my lease...my scholarship would have covered rent..._

She closed her eyes and leaned against the cool wall behind her, concentrating on controlling her breathing. With the assembly so soon, she had to figure out how to get out of the room without anyone noticing. She slipped her hood down and let her animal ears flip back up to their natural position. They flicked toward the door, picking up the excited sounds from out in the hall.

Two of her dorm mates were each other's soul mates. She silently congratulated them, but also prayed they would get along well. Not everyone was so lucky. And at least she could rule out two of them as her soul mate.

 _I wish the best for you...Robin and Franky..._

Her gaze left the door and flitted over to the window. "That should work...provided there's no screen..."

Lithium grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulders and headed for the window. There was no screen, so she slipped out of it and ran for the auditorium at top speed.

 _I can't let them find me...I can't go through what you did...I just can't...Mom..._


	2. Chapter 2

Sanji dropped his bag next to his desk and slumped down in his chair, barely giving Usopp setting up a complex still life in their window seat any mind. He was far more exhausted than he expected for the first week of classes. It was

Thursday evening

and there was only one class left before his weekends started. Her seriously debated dropping this one while he still could, but Usopp was taking it as well. He was not about to leave a friend hanging like that.

The work load, while tough in order to look good when he applie to All Blue, was not what had him so beat. All week it had been a wild goose chase, trying to find his elusive soul mate. All he had managed to find out was that they were indeed behind the dorm door that never seemed to open and they were female as near as Brook could tell. The RA had not talked to her long enough to know how she identified and one could never assume.

"Usopp, remind me again why we are taking Aesthetics from six to nine again?"

Usopp adjusted a rubber chicken on a cutting board as he chuckled. His first drawing assignment was to do a still life based on someone you live with, so Usopp had purchased a bunch of cooking paraphernalia from a dollar store. The rubber chicken was a hilarious stand-in for an actual bird.

"We are taking it then so we don't have to take a lecture class twice a week and have Fridays off. It's worth it."

Usopp stood back to look at his handy work and nodded to himself. "Besides, maybe your soul mate had the same idea. Brook told me she was likely an art major based on what he helped her bring in. Two large portfios."

Sanji smiled a little despite his frustration. He wondered if that was so and found himself pondering what sort of artist she might be. A painter with a crisp classic style, or a free-spirited sculptor came to mind. Though a female variety of his punk tattooed roomie could also be intriguing.

"I hope she did." Sanji leaned his chair back, balancing on the back legs. "It's like she is avoiding me..."

Usopp's expression was sympathetic when he turned from his work. "Maybe she is shy. And if she doesn't have pain, there's no reason to hurry."

Sanji frowned at this, setting his chair legs back down. "But seriously, it's not like I'm a scary brute man like Zoro. She has nothing to fear."

Usopp rolled his eyes. "Have you forgotten you're a flirt, dude? She may be a Bond Purist and you chasing the ladies is offensive to her."

Sanji sat bolt upright in his chair. "Shit, I hadn't thought of that! She might hate my guts for admiring other ladies!"

Usopp shouldered his messenger bag. "That's why I said something. Now we gotta go unless you want to be late and miss her walking in."

Usopp laughed as Sanji had gone from semi- lathargic and alarmed to running out the door with his backpack slung over one shoulder. "Dude, are you trying to look desperate?"

Sanji passed her door, noting no change in his vision. She must have left already. While he did not admit this to the artist on his heels, late at night when he could not sleep, he found himself sitting outside her door just to feel the closeness of their bond. He could tell when she was in her room with minimal effort now because of this.

Now he was asking himself if chasing down one's soulmate could still be considered stalking.

Despite a certain degree of effort and the steady stream of idle chatter from Usopp, he found himself going over possible scenarios of finally meeting this mystery mate of his. He wanted to casual about it, though he was not sure how casual he could be after running off in the direction of the colors several times that week.

If there was one thing he could add to what he knew about her, it was that she was either incredibly fast or a chameleon. She always evaded him, even when he broke out into a full run. Then there were times when he knew she was close but he could not begin to figure out where she was.

He would be insulted if it were not for what Usopp had pointed out. Bond Purists staunchly believed people should not have any romantic relationships outside of the soulmate bond. Sanji was not of that mind, and had dated back in highschool, though he was always clear that it was just for fun until he found his soulmate. Yet if she was indeed a Bond Purist, it was probably shocking if she saw him lavish attention on their dorm mate Nami and later Nami's pretty soulmate Vivi.

He could not help it though. They were such lovely ladies and while he knew nothing would come of it, he wanted them to know they were admired.

"Sanji, you're walking into the wall." Usopp grabbed his shoulder before he completely missed the lecture hall door.

He felt a blush creep across his cheeks as Usopp pushed him through the door with a hearty laugh. The lecture hall was dark saved for the faint glow of the screens in each desk, so he could keep blushing unnoticed.

Unfortunately that meant he couldn't begin to guess if his soulmate was in there until he and Usopp found a pair of seats and signed into the desk system. The college logo at the top corner of the screen appeared red and gold to him.

His sent a private message to Usopp's desk.

[ She's here! ]

Usopp looked down at his screen and then looked up and grinned in the glow of his screen.

[ Class won't be so bad for you then? Is she close? ]

Sanji glanced around at the other students. It was chilly in the hall so most of the feminine figures he could make out where huddled in hoodies.

[ Can't tell. She is here though. Wish Brook would tell me more, but he was right to keep her privacy...still frustrating...]

Before Usopp could answer, the professor slid into classroom and called the students to attention. Sanji barely heard the eccentric old man until he announced their in-class assignment.

"You will be assigned a partner based on your seat number. Don't talk to them, just observe them. Then you will make one of those aesthetic memes you see all over the internet for that person. Submit it to my desk in a hour."

The professor sent the the numbers and proceeded to read a book while the students worked out their partner assignments.

Sanji glanced to his left, where the lucky person he has to make a meme about sat. They were looking back at him as the professor remembered to bring the lights up so people could actually see their partners. Even with the better lighting, he could not tell much about their face, only that there was one in the deep recesses of their deep hood.

The jacket they wore was long, black and semi-fitted, making their more than ample breasts apparent.

 _Well, at least she has a nice figure..._

Lithium could not believe her rotten luck. She had been successfully avoiding her soulmate for most of the week and then he walked into her last class of the week. It was a three-hour lecture no less. As if It could not become any worse, he sat several seats down the row from her corner seat and no one filled in the gap between them.

He seemed preoccupied with looking around the room, even when the professor had began the class. They were in close enough proximity that the colors no longer shifted so he seemed to have no idea she was fifteen feet away.

Then the professor announced the in-class assignment. She was grateful that partners did not have to communicate but her heart leaped in her throat when she saw who she was paired with.

 _I can't get away from this Sanji guy...even random number generators are against me..._

Lithium looked over at him while making sure her hood still concealed her face. She would have done this even if she had not been running from Sanji. Anthros, regular and reverse, were often the most discrimated against of the supernaturals so she did not want to bring more trouble on herself than needed.

She realized she had never truly looked at him before. He was too far away to see his eye color, but his hair was a rich blond tone she could actually appreciate since he was here, cut asymmetrically so only one of his eyes was visible. His dark jeans hugged legs that seemed impossibly long, his basic blue teeshirt hugging the rest of his lean but muscular frame. The unusual curl of his eyebrow brought a small smile to her lips.

If the prospect of him and his amorous ways toward any woman, even their dorm mates, Nami and Robin, did not terrify her, it would have been easy to admit destiny could have done far worse by her.

 _He would probably be disappointed to learn his soulmate is a reverse anthro...I bet pretty women just eat him up..._

She turned back to her screen to begin her work. She found it surprisingly difficult to keep her previous knowledge out of it, removing pictures more often than settling on them. She had never had so much trouble with a creative assignment before.

 _I blame you, Sanji..._

She glanced back over at him as she finally whipped her project into submission. Based on the frustrated gestures he was making on the touch screen and the tightening of his jaw, he was experiencing his share of difficulties as well. A small swell of sympathy rose in her, knowing it must be challenging for him not seeing her face.

She sighed silently, and brought up the private message screen, setting her screen name to her desk number.

[ Relax and don't think so much. Go with your gut and see what happens. ]

She sent it and flipped back to the submission screen, focusing on that task so she did not see when he received her message. She sent it to the professor's desk seconds before he answered.

[ Thank you. I just didn't want to screw it up and make you upset with me. ]

She smiled, but also rolled her eyes. She was sure he was about to start flirting with her, despite not even seeing her face.

[ You won't. Finish your work, okay? ]

[ Yes ma'am! ;) ]

If she rolled her eyes any harder, they would have fallen out. She could not completely fault him though.

 _He knows not what he does..._

She pulled out her tablet and opened her drawing program, quietly sketching for the remaining twenty minutes. She concentrated on her lines until she realized who she was drawing.

 _Sanji...get outta' my head!_

The professor began displaying the pairs of aesthetic memes. She looked up at each of them long enough to see if they were worth looking at. Most were thoughtful but she identified a few creepy dudebro-types by some of the unsavory implications being made their choice of pictures, regardless of the gender of their assigned person.

Then the professor flipped to hers and Sanji's memes. "I wonder if these two know each other. They look like two halves of the same coin."

She stared at the screen, her mouth hanging open, though no one could see it. The professor was not just saying it to make a comment.

Where she had placed a sun-drenched beach, he put the night sky broken by the sharp edges of a pine forest canopy. Where she placed a man in a sharp suit, he placed a woman in a casual skirt and plain black teeshirt. Sun and Moon, black and white.

Two pairs were the same though. Two pictures of hands and two soft blue shades.

Lithium saved a screen shot of the silly memes, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. She needed proof of it.

 _Just who the heck are you Sanji?_


	3. Chapter 3

To say he was frustrated in every way possible was a tremendous understatement.

Sanji lay in his bunk, throwing the covers on and off, oscillating between his sides and back. Autumn had recently arrived in earnest so it was too cold not to cover up, but uncomfortable to stay that way. The combination of the pressure of his classes and lack of sleep was wearing on him. He usually would sleep on his stomach, but that was made impossible by one of the sources of frustration.

It had been two months since classes started and still his soul mate had managed to evade him. True to his own principles, he had dropped all casual dating to pursue her. Two months was a long time though, for him to go without any release of a sexual nature. Every so often, he wondered if it would be worth it. He would approach her door whenever he thought this, feeling his soul reaching out to hers and he would forget everything he had been complaining about as the ache he felt melted away. He wanted to sneak away like this now, but Usopp was still awake, pulling a late night to finish his last drawing assignment before Thanksgiving break started the next day.

Sanji on the other hand was in no hurry. He was staying on campus in order to take advantage of the professional kitchen he did not have to share with the other chefs at Baratie. The finals push started as soon as the vacation was over so he needed all the practice time he could get while it was not filled with his classmates.

He turned over again, staring down at his roommate still sketching another whimsical still life, this time of a scene he made from dolls, action and character figures borrowed from everyone in his drawing class. He had them arranged so it had an "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman" feel to it. The doll in place of said enormous woman was, as Usopp informed him, a ball-jointed doll from the hooded woman in their aesthetics class. Usopp had caught him staring at it several times and had teased him mercilessly, as the doll was extremely well-endowed, like her owner. He couldn't deny both doll and woman had figures that matched his preferred type but he still tried to save face.

Sanji sat up and swung himself out of bed, grabbing a pack of cigarettes as he left. There was little else that would calm him down at this point, so he gave in. He regretted not grabbing his jacket as the crisp fall air rushed to meet him as he opened the door, but it served to calm his body down while the smoking eased his nerves. He leaned against a light pole that was the requisite fifty feet from the door, watching students from late-night classes shuffle to their dorm buildings, all drooping with exhaustion. Some had the distinct waddle of having come from the one buffet-style dining hall on campus.

He took a long drag from his cigarette and released the smoke into the cold night air, but his breath caught and he coughed. He felt her before he saw her, his aching muscles almost groaning in sweet relief. He could just barely make out the rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed, otherwise he would have believe the sight before him was a frustration-induced hallucination. She wore the long black jacket with the deep hood he knew so well.

"My god, it's you..."

The woman from Aesthetics was his soul mate.

She flinched when he spoke, turning her head in such a way, it looked like she was side-eying him from inside the hood. This close, he could see how small she was, almost a foot shorter than he was. Even with only a small patch of lamplight, he could confirm her size did not limit the impressive set of curves she sported. He tore his eyes away from everything below her neck and hoped he was sort of making eye contact.

"Please don't run this time..." He took a step forward, his heart sinking when she took two away from him. "...I just want to meet you...to know who you are..."

She shook her head, finally speaking in a surprisingly low tone for a woman. "I...I can't... I just can't..."

"But-"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND!" A eerily animal growl laced her words as she spun around and ran for the dorms.

Sanji stood there, stunned into silent inaction. The cigarette fell from his hand, the glowing end guttering out as it hit the pavement. He shook his head and crushed it underfoot before walking back into the dorm.Her door was right next to the exit. He could not bring himself to pass it and return to his room. He leaned his forehead against her door, feeling his heart constrict painfully because he wanted so badly to knock and know she would answer.

 _Of course I can't understand you...you won't talk to me...you won't let me see you...dammit...you're right here...right here on the other side of this door...so close...yet out of my reach...I would hold you forever if you would let me..._

He looked up when he heard her on the other side of the door. It sounded as if she was leaning against it as well. Only when he heard the soft sounds of crying did he dare say anything.

"I'm going back now...I don't know what I did...but I hope one day...you won't feel you have to run..."

He pushed away from the door, sighing deeply as the ache returned to his body the farther away he walked. It took considerable willpower not to slam the door open.

Usopp was clearing up his still life when he barged in, holding the doll he now knew belonged to his soul mate, about to put it back in it's carrying case.

"Sanji, you look like hell."

Silently, he took the doll from Usopp and set it in the case. He zipped it shut, and then rubbed his eyes.

"I'll return this...the owner is down the hall...not that she will talk to me..."

Usopp stared at him, slack jawed. "What? You mean..."

Sanji nodded, reverently setting the doll case on his desk and flopping down on his chair. "No mistaking it."

The artist leaned on the support of Sanji's bed, offering him a small smile. "She's in all my art classes. Her name is Lithium. No last name. I think its an art thing, like her professional name or something."

"Lithium..." He breathed her name, wondering why she chose it as it slipped off his tongue in a pleasant way. "Have you seen her face by any chance?"

Usopp sighed. "Not even a peek. She is really good at keeping it underwraps. But I can say she's a good artist. Doesn't like drawing realism but is still good at it. And she does some of the gentlest critiques I've ever heard."

Sanji perked up a little, despite her face still being a mystery. "What does she like to draw?"

"She said she is a comic artist, but she wants to write off-beat children's stories too. She loves kids."

Sanji's brow knit in confusion. "How do you know that?"

"Our drawing professor brought her two kids in so we could practice quick gesture drawings, since they don't stay still. They freaked out when their mom left the room to take a call."

Usopp chuckled a little. "A few people started to grumble, but Lithium sat down with them and started singing a song with their names in it. Got some pretty cute sketches from that."

Sanji let his head fall onto his desk. "Dammit Usopp...she sounds perfect...why won't she let me near her?"

Usopp shook his head. "She doesn't talk unless she has to, so I have no idea."

Sanji sighed. "She yelled at me..."

"I don't know what to tell you, dude." Usopp yawned as he turned to his bunk. "Sounds like she has some issue ya' just don't know about yet. Now I'm goin' to sleep. Gotta get to Kaya's before lunch tomorrow."

Sanji nodded. "Say hi to Kaya for me. In don't plan on being up before you leave."

Usopp made a confirming noise, thought due to fatigue, there were no actual words. Sanji chuckled as he headed for the bathroom. If there was one person he knew for sure worked harder than he did, his roommate was it.

Leaving Usopp to his slumber, Sanji took a tank-drainingly long shower, feeling no shame whatsoever in doing so.

 _Everyone is leaving so why would it matter anyway?_

When he returned to the room, a grin spread across his previously strained face.

Usopp had hung a sketch of Lithium playing with the children on his armoire door. She and the children were holding their arms out wide. It looked like the song they were singing had motions. Both children wore bright smiles, even if it was just a quick sketch.

Sanij was able to fall asleep with a smile on his face for the first time since arriving on campus.

* * *

Lithium stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, examining the fine details of her inhuman face.

 _I have nice eyes and a small smattering of light freckles on the white parts of my face that are sorta' cute...but that's all I got..._

She knew she was not beautiful like the other ladies who lived in the dorm. Robin was a classic beauty with a sharp style, while Nami had this energetic, unique style that complimented her looks. Her girlfriend, Vivi, who practically lived here as well, had a cute down-home feel to her. They were gorgeous, anyone with working eyes could not deny that.

And what was she compared to them? A short, gray and white weirdo, complete with fangs claws and animal ears. Not to mention actual fur down the length of her spine.

 _Well...I guess my ears can be cute sometimes...but really...that's it..._

She threw her toothbrush in the general direction of the cup on the counter and stalked off to her bed. She was still mad at herself for letting Sanji pop up like that. She was so tired though, she did not realize the colors shifted, despite her perfect night vision. She flopped down face first on her bed, not even bothering to draw her legs up onto the mattress.

"Why does he have to be so insistent?" She slowly pushed herself back up and walked back to the bathroom. She picked up at a prescription bottle, grimacing at the word "Vicodin" on the label. She took one and sighed. "Maybe he's in pain too..."

Lithium heaved another sigh and threw herself into bed properly this time. "At least I'll be alone for the weekend."

Lithium woke up later than normal the next morning. With no classes to be at, she gave into her inner night owl and did not bother to get out of her bed until ten. She still felt the pull of responsibility though, and spent most of the day on homework, while eating her weight in beef jerky. On a break from her drawing homework, a still life of found objects, she dared a look at her laundry pile.

She figured not only was it a time for a break, but to wash the clothes overflowing from her hamper, because she swore she saw it move. She'd been staring at her found object still life for too long. She glanced at the clock, only to confirm it. She had sat down to work on the drawing at eleven and it was nine in the evening.

"Good job lady, way forget to eat more than partially dehydrated beef all day..."

When she hefted the hamper, the clothes over the top of it were over her head and she had to hold her detergent container on the pile with her nose. At least the smell of lavender filling her nose was pleasant. Much better than that corn chip smell of old socks that tended to waft from a couple of the guys' rooms on damp days.

"When did I do laundry last? I'm almost as bad as the corn chip sock club..."

She turned into the laundry room and immediately dropped the basket when color bloomed into view.

Sanji stood at the counter by the small stove, halting the arrangement of his ingredients the moment she dropped her laundry. He did not even look up at first as he moved toward her but when he did, she gasped.

His eyes, locked on hers with a heart-wrenching mix of sadness and awe, the softest ocean blue. They held her to the floor, even though her mind was screaming for her to run. Her body had other plans as the very essence of her being reached out to his.

She felt a blush sweep across her cheek as she realized she was not wearing her hood up.

 _He can see my face...oh god..._

He paused a few feet from her, still gazing at her. He looked hesitant to move and she did not blame him. This was usually the part where she ran.

Instead, she took a small step toward him. She could not run any longer, not when he looked at her like that. His face seemed almost reverent, something she had never seen in person, let alone directed at her. The one step turned into two, then many as they both closed the gap between them.

Sanji held her face between his hands, his thumbs stroking her face so softly, she was close to forgetting how breathing worked. She flinched, her body expecting to feel sharp pain at the contact as she always had, but it was gone completely the moment his fingers brushed her skin. He leaned toward her and she swore if he kissed her she would probably hyperventilate right there. He paused though, his cautious smile growing as he let go of her face and swept her up into his arms, right off her feet.

"You're more beautiful than I imagined!"

She let out a surprised squeak as he spun around and threw her arms around his neck. Part of it was panic at no longer having her feet on solid ground, but most it was because she wanted to do that. She could not deny that she felt better, more right in Sanji's arms than she ever had. Even if he had not been spinning her, she would have felt dizzy, half-drunk even. The ever-increasing burn of the blush on her cheeks only compounded the intoxicated sensation he gave her.

Still his exclamation confused her. Her, more beautiful than he imagined? She worried about the capacity of his imagination. She did not have time to question that though as he spoke again as he sat her back on her feet. He leaned down so she did not have to move her arms from his neck, something she was glad of as she had no intention on letting go yet.

"You're...you're not going to run from me again, are you? Please say you won't! I don't understand why but I just...I just want to know you."

She smiled gently up at him, once again overcome by the deep blue of his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere."


	4. Chapter 4

Sanji turned his head to look at the soft face of his soul mate as she slept on his shoulder. Despite slight concern that he would wake her, he ran a finger along her dual-toned cheek. She leaned into his hand with a soft sigh.

He had been slightly surprised to find out Lithium was a supernatural and a dramatic-looking one at that, but that did not stop him from finding her incredibly beautiful. Her eyes alone held him captivated over his dinner he doubled for her while she started her laundry.

The way her face lit up as she ate what he made only made her that much more precious. He swore he heard her purring like a cat as she relished every bit of that simple omelette. Even now, hours later, he was still replaying her words in his head.

"This is incredible, Sanji!" Lithium's startlingly blue eyes were huge as she took another bite. "How do you do this? My omelettes always turn out...well...weird..."

Sanji smiled across the small table they pulled to the tiny kitchen from the common area, almost forgetting he had a bite on his own fork. "I've worked in my father's restaurant for years, so it's lots of practice and a healthy dose of passion, dear lady. I'm studying culinary arts here. But I'm sure yours would be just perfect as well."

Lithium shook her head. "Mine are good enough, but I know a work of art when I see it. Or taste it, as is the case. Art should evoke more than one sense after all."

Sanji felt his ears burning a little. This coming from the little artist was a great compliment, considering the high regard his talented roomie held her in. "Thank you, Lithium."

At the mention of his father, he noticed a strange, dark expression pass over her face. It left as quickly as it came though, so he did not pry. They had finally connected and he was not going to delve too deep so soon and risk scaring her off again.

"So you know what I do." Sanji took a bite before finishing his thought. "I only know what my roommate told me about you. May I ask what you're studying?"

Lithium's guarded expression opened up more than he expected, an even brighter smile lighting up her face. "Illustration, with a focus on Sequential Art. I bet Usopp told you that I'm a comic artist."

Both of them nearly jumped out of their skin when the oven beeped to let him know it was preheated for the now-celebratory cookies he had waiting. Lithium giggled as he stood and slid them in. He set a new timer and was back with a smile of his own.

"Hopefully we don't do that again when they're done." Sanji shook his head.

Lithium tilted her head toward the oven. "The glorious smell should help with that. When you said you had some simple cookies, I'll be honest, I didn't think Nutella stuffed snicker doodles fit that category. Of course, I also didn't know you were a culinary student either."

"I even plan to apply to All Blue Academy after this year." Sanji felt that blush creep up again. "Provided they will accept me, of course."

Lithium took the last bite of her omelette with a reassuring expression. "Well, I'm no fancy culinary school professor, but I'd accept you from this dinner alone."

"You're too sweet." He shook his head. "I still have a lot to learn."

"With how hard you work, I'm sure you will learn all you need." She wrapped her hands around her water glass with a slightly stubborn set to her jaw, as if to say he should not argue this fact.

And Sanji did not. Instead he grinned and asked, "How do you know how hard I work?"

Lithium's face burst into a bright red blush, though it was darker on the gray portions of her cheeks. "Ah...well...I was actively avoiding you...so I had to be aware of where you would be..."

"Well, I guess I can feel a little less bad about chasing you every time I noticed colors." He smiled gently at her, not wanting her to think he was upset about it. "I felt like a stalker."

She looked down at the glass in her hands. "You gave me quite the work out. Those long legs of yours aren't just for show."

"I still don't know how you would disappear so easily. I ran track in high school, so I should have caught you at least once."

Lithium grinned despite her blush. "You never looked up though. I was in a tree most of the time."

All the frustration and hassle and all he had to do was look up. He rested his head on hers and sighed. "You are something else, little lady."

He reached out to catch her DSXL before it slipped from her hands and saved her game before closing it. She had fallen asleep shortly after destroying him and his Pokemon team. Neither of them were particularly serious players, but her Gardevior and Mawile were all she needed to smash his team flat.

It was not lost on him that she, this cute woman, had smashed him flat with two adorable Pokemon.

Everytime he had made mention of her appearance though, she looked confused. He could only guess at the reason. Sure she looked different than most, even for a supernatural, but she was lovely to him. Surely others had found her the same.

At the same time, he had heard the horror stories of cruel treatment of less dramatic supernaturals than her. Maybe people telling her how lovely she was were in short supply.

Sanji decided he would make up for that without fail.

After a little while, the call of nature was too strong to ignore. He eased her down onto the extra bed in her room she had converted into a couch, resting her head on a throw pillow. He stretched and watched her curl into ball in his abscence.

Sanji finally pulled himself away and strode into the bathroom after knockin to make sure the ladies on the other side of the suite were indeed gone and not surprised by him. When no one answered, he walked in and stopped short at the sight of the sink.

Two large perscription bottles sat on the counter. He picked one up, dropping it back down when he read the lable. "Vicodin...and a refillable script...for soulmate pain..."

It took every ounce of restraint in him not to slam the door that separated the sinks from the rest of the bathroom.

* * *

Lithium's eyes fluttered open as the scent of someone known but not familiar filled her head. She started to sit up but the gentle fingers through her hair eased her back down.

It was then she realized the side of her face was pressed into dark wash denim covering one well-muscled thigh. She turned her face just enough to see the rest of the person attached to that leg.

"Ah...Sanji...sorry I fell asleep."

His face looked strained as he shook his head. "Don't apologize. I get the feeling you needed it...sleeping pain-free..."

Her ears shot upward, or at least the one not pinned to his leg did. "How...how do you know that?"

His blue eyes were a thunderstorm, each emotion another front of clouds rolling through the sky. She could not look away if she tried. She never wanted to see that in them again.

Sanji stroked her hair again before answering. "The bottles on your sink...you must have been hurting so much..."

Despite loving what he was doing with her hair, she sat up on her knees so she could look him in the eye. "I was. No use lying about it."

She did her best not to flinch when his hands cupped her face. Contact was going to take some time for it to be comfortable now that there was no pain. She could tell he noticed though, as his fingers were even softer on her face than they started.

"Why did you keep running from me? I could have ended your pain sooner. Even if that was all you wanted...I would have respected that."

Lithium was not ready to explain all her fears and what they meant, but maybe an abbreviated version would work for now. She sighed softly and put her hands on his.

"I was scared...not everyone's soulmate bond is a good fit. It's not always happily ever after and all that..." She looked down a little. "And seeing you flirt with all those beautiful women...I didn't think I would be enough for you..."

Lithium expected any reaction but what she received. Anger, justification, frustration, something of a negative sort.

When he pressed his forehead to hers and breathed a genuine apology, she was surprised to say the least.

"I'm sorry Lithium. I didn't take your feelings into consideration. I'm an idiot for not realizing sooner I was chasing you away...Usopp had to point that out to me awhile back...and even then..."

Lithium felt her chest constrict. This was the opposite of her expectations. Heck, everything about Sanji was flipping around everything she had thought about soulmates.

 _He isn't that man...c'mon Lithium...he's sweet and kind, even if he was flirty..._

"You're not an idiot." She put on her stubborn face again, even if he could not see it well. "You didn't know my problem...how could you when I kept running?"

"I could have been more gentle in my approach." She could feel more than see his frown. "I literally ran after you all over campus."

Lithium pulled her head back so he could see her cheeky grin. "At first that was a little scary...after a while though, it was kinda' fun to watch you run around in circles."

Sanji blinked a couple times, then a small smile pulled at his lips. A wry chuckle followed the smile. "Well I'm glad my flailing about was entertaining to you, at least."

"It was pretty cute, to be honest." She at back down and leaned her head on his shoulder again. "If I hadn't been so worried, I might have still hid for a bit just to see that."

"Cheeky woman." Sanji said, but his grin kept it light. "What am I going to with you, besides invite you to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow?"

"Ah...um...understand I'm not ready for that?" Lithium tried to school the panic out of her face.

Sanji grinned. "I figured, but it would be wrong of me not to ask. My dad's a little much at first anyway."

She giggled a little. "I can see that being a thing. You're a bit much at first yourself."

Sanji frowned a little. "What do you mean?"

Lithium took his hand and with a dramatic flourish, mimicked him near-perfectly, one of her odd set of skills. "Pardon me for being forward, lovely creature, but you beauty has me so awestruck, I cannot help myself!"

Sanji's face was priceless, so much so she started to giggle, her fascade broken. "You said that to Nami at the opening assembly."

He had the decency to blush at her impression of him. "It won't be like that anymore...I've wanted to find you for as long as I remember..."

Lithium's ears drooped a little. She wished she could say the same, now that they connected. Even now, her fears kept her closed off, though not so much that she was willing to let go of his hand. To say she was conflicted felt like the understatement of the century.

"I can't say the same...but now that you're here...I feel right for the first time in a long time...maybe ever..."

Sanji said nothing. He did not have to when he wrapped her in the warmest hug she had been part of in years. She pressed her face into his chest and hoped he did not notice the tears filling her eyes.


End file.
